For ten years, Joe Frawley was a regular columnist for Dome Magazine, published by Hoflin Publishing, Inc. out of Wheat Ridge, Colorado.
His topics included detailed information about all things “dome”, including the fundamentals of construction, mechanics, financing and marketing. Infused throughout was his unique perspective on being a round house owner and all the joys and frustrations that it entailed.
Dome Construction
Build Your Own Dome: Part I
Do you believe that building your own dome home, as an owner/builder, is a piece of cake?
Build Your Own Dome: Part II
Would you like to build your own dream dome, and are you relatively new at the building process? Perhaps the following will answer some of the questions of “what do I do next?”
Dome Foundations
It would seem that the logical place to start with this subject would be at the bottom, so this is where we will begin…
Dome vs. Square House Materials
Rumors by various proponents of dome design contend that a dome structure requires less lumber materials than a conventional square house covering the same number of square feet of living space.
Geodesics
The language of geodesics is sometimes difficult to understand by the layman, so by default, this article will attempt to explain some of the common terms in dome description…
Panel vs. Hub & Strut Domes
This article will attempt to define some of the basic details among residential dome designs that are available, and also attempt to explain the more basic geometry that is used by many dome manufacturers today…
Residential Dome Designs
Why would you ever opt to consider such a radical design for a home? This question has been asked on many occasions since I first entered the area of spherical housing in 1975…
Shingling the Geodesic Dome
Although the dome appears to be radically different from the conventional roof, it is shingled using the same basic techniques as conventional construction…
Dome Mechanics
Air Quality
Recently I visited a dome that was built about 1991. This dome has a top pentagon of plastic skylights…
Condensation in Domes
A great to-do is going on here in the metropolitan area about mold that is occurring in public buildings, and that the mold is affecting people’s health…
Dome Mechanics
The basic elements necessary for total dome comfort are heating, cooling, filtering, humidifying, dehumidifying and whole house ventilation….
Environmental Comfort
This article will try to explain some of the environmental problems associated with living in a super-insulated dome home, and their related cures…
Moisture Cures
The environmental differences between the geodesic dome and rectilinear structures are not very well documented…
Dome Marketing
Dome Bias
Bias. Webster’s says, “It’s a preference or inclination that inhibits impartial judgment; prejudice.”
Dome Financing
Welcome to the frustration club. Here we really find out how bias, ignorance, and prejudice find their way into the everyday business of dome home financing.
Dome Marketing
I have talked about this before, but it seems that some dome manufacturers still think we are in the Seventies, when talking about domes meant attacking the persons who are building the domes, and attacking the dome design.
Ten Reasons Not To Buy a Dome
The following remarks are made with tongue in cheek, but they represent only a few of the hoops that some dome buyers have to jump through before they can realize the greatest living system since the sod house and the tepee…
The Internet Effect
This following is an article that appeared on the Internet, on geodesic domes, that I felt was worth repeating.